Acute Effects of Online Mind-Body Skills Training on Resilience, Mindfulness, and Empathy.

BACKGROUND: Some studies have begun to show benefits of brief in-person mind-body skills training. We evaluated the effects of 1-hour online elective mind-body skills training for health professionals on mindfulness, resilience, and empathy. METHODS: Between May and November, 2014, we described enrollees for the most popular 1-hour modules in a new online mind-body skills training program; compared enrollees' baseline stress and burnout to normative samples; and assessed acute changes in mindfulness, resilience, and empathy. RESULTS: The 513 enrollees included dietitians, nurses, physicians, social workers, clinical trainees, and health researchers; about 1/4 were trainees. The most popular modules were the following: Introduction to Stress, Resilience, and the Relaxation Response (n = 261); Autogenic Training (n = 250); Guided Imagery and Hypnosis for Pain, Insomnia, and Changing Habits (n = 112); Introduction to Mindfulness (n = 112); and Mindfulness in Daily Life (n = 102). Initially, most enrollees met threshold criteria for burnout and reported moderate to high stress levels. Completing 1-hour modules was associated with significant acute improvements in stress (P < .001), mindfulness (P < .001), empathy (P = .01), and resilience (P < .01). CONCLUSION: Online mind-body skills training reaches diverse, stressed health professionals and is associated with acute improvements in stress, mindfulness, empathy, and resilience. Additional research is warranted to compare the long-term cost-effectiveness of different doses of online and in-person mind-body skills training for health professionals. © The Author(s) 2015.

J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med. 2015 Mar 17. pii: 2156587215575816. Kemper KJ(1), Khirallah M(2). Author information: (1)The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA kathi.kemper@osumc.edu. (2)Center for Integrative Health and Wellness and The Office of Geriatrics and Gerontology, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA.